Hi everyone,
 
I don't get the chance to post as much as I used to unfortunately :( ... but
I had to post a note with an update about my new addition to my fert family.
 
Ferret math struck me again a few weeks ago, when I introduced my new DEW
baby girl Daisy to my family of three girls, Casey, Jasmine and Samantha.
 
Casey is the oldest - 2 and 1/2 years, Jasmine is 2 years, Sam 1 year.
Casey has always loved and bonded with Jasmine from the start -- they both
came into my life around the same time in 1996.  However, when I introduced
Samantha early last year, some of you FML old timers may remember I had a
rough time integrating Sam with Casey -- Casey would be really hard on her,
dragging her around by the scruff, making Sam squeal and cry -- but Casey
never bit hard enough to draw blood, so everyone on the FML recommended not
to worry about it.  And it worked out well after the first few weeks of
adjustment -- they ended up bonding too.
 
However, with the introduction of Daisy earlier this month, Casey has gone
completely psycho-ferret, literally trying to kill my poor new baby (no
exaggeration).  At first, I thought, OK, Casey's just doing the domination
"I'm the boss" thing again like she did with Sammy.  But the first day I
introduced Daisy and Casey (after they both had the chance to sniff each
other's bedding, two cages next to each other, etc.) Casey grabbed her by
the neck, starting shaking her like a rag doll and bit hard enough to draw
blood (with poor Daisy screaming).  I had to immediately separate them.
 
Since then, I've tried holding both, letting them sniff each other, tried
bitter apple on the baby's neck - which doesn't work because Casey will bite
Daisy's stomach or body instead - and closely watched play times, but
absolutely nothing has worked.  The two other times Casey's "gotten to"
Daisy she has bitten and shook her sooo hard blood and cuts appeared, and
Daisy totally freaked out.  I have to keep them in separate cages and have
separate play times now, which I'm sure is making Casey even more upset, but
I just can't allow her to try to kill my little Daisy!!!
 
Sam and Jasmine get along great with Daisy, BTW.  I now keep Sam and Daisy
in the same cage since they're closer in age, and Casey and Jasmine in their
own cage, but they do have separate play times which is really hard on me
because of my schedule and is also stressful for them, not getting the free
roam they're used to throughout my apartment with all of their fuzz buddies.
 
Some last pieces of info by way of background is that I inherited Casey from
my boyfriend, so this is her second home.  She's always been more of a loner
ferret since she was isolated from other ferrets for the first year of her
life.  Also, Casey/Jasmine/Sam all had ECE early last year and Casey had it
the worst -- she lost half her body weight, came close to death and had to
be IV-fed for quite awhile & seems to be not quite as happy since -- and I'm
wondering if these two factors are contributing to Casey's severe reaction
to Daisy.
 
Please - any and all ideas/words of wisdom would be sooo appreciated, I'm at
my wits end and it's breaking my heart that they're not all getting along.
Do I have to keep them separated forever?  If so, I'm afraid I'll have to
find a new home for either Casey or Daisy, and I just can't bear the thought
of having to resort to that.  I was so frustrated last night, I cried.
Help!
 
Jen (the worried mom), & stressed out ferts, Casey, Jasmine, Sam & the
happy baby Daisy!
[Posted in FML issue 2288]